New network owner switches off veteran broadcaster

Vancouver-based broadcaster Terry David Mulligan is taking his former employer to court after he was dismissed.

Mulligan, who turned 65 on June 30, 2007, worked for CHUM Ltd. for 24 years, performing as a radio station disc jockey and TV host for MuchMusic and Movie TV. In September 2007, CHUM was taken over by CTVglobemedia.

On Nov. 19, 2007, CTVglobemedia told Mulligan he was being dismissed effective Dec. 31, the day before legislation came into effect eliminating mandatory retirement in British Columbia. It also said he would receive a severance package equal to six months’ salary. Mulligan filed a suit for wrongful dismissal in B.C. Supreme Court, claiming he was fired without cause and he was discriminated against because of his age. He also claimed his length of service entitled him to a larger severance.

Mulligan’s statement of claim included the assertion CHUM told him he would get 24 months’ severance if he was fired after the takeover. He also said his last contract included an allowance for termination with 16 weeks’ salary payable, which was contrary to employment standards legislation.

“To think that you can take a 24-year man and tell him that he’s through for nothing, on six months notice, is just not going to work,” Mulligan’s lawyer, Murray Tevlin, told the Vancouver Sun.